Double Third Festival: A big day for Li ethnic minority
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Liberal Marital Customs
To better understand this festival for young lovers, a look is needed at the marital customs of the Li people. Li people are monogamous. When they marry, a young man or woman leaves his or her parental home and moves to their own house nearby. Instead of living under the same roof as many Chinese couples do, Li newlyweds have an independent life as soon as the young couple moves in together. Though parents often play a decisive role in their children's marriages, boys and girls have the freedom to choose their spouse. The Li ethnic group advocates a climate of tolerance towards women. Married women can live with their parents for years before they are ready to move in with their husband. A woman is also free from criticism if she decides to divorce her husband, and the community does not oppose the remarriage of widows. Illegitimate children are also treated equally by the community.
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Li communities on Hainan Island hold a range of activities each year on the third day of the third lunar month to celebrate the Double Third Festival. |
This open attitude cultivates a freedom in love that forms the foundation of the Double Third Festival. The ceremony is usually held in rubber tree forests, an intimate environment for the exchanging of lovers' vows – cool shade overhead and thick leaves on the ground like a carpet make a heavenly setting.
The most exciting part of the festival starts when the sun goes down. Girls in glowing costumes and boys with red belts around their waists sing and dance around the campfire. Boys hold colorful umbrellas, while silver and shell ornaments on the girls' dresses glitter in the firelight. Starting with soft, slow love songs, the gala becomes increasingly lively and exhilarating. Participants take part in traditional dances, such as the betel nut dance, bamboo pole dance, firewood-cutting dance, and hunting dance.
When night falls, boys and girls who have found a partner will move away from the carnival to quiet corners where they exchange gifts to show their mutual affection. Girls usually receive earrings or hairpins made of deer bone and they tie colorful hand-knitted belts around the waist of their lover. Couples vow to meet again on the same day the following year.
This tradition of finding a lover by singing and dancing is over 2,000 years old. Seeing as the story and the traditions behind the festival are all about love, the Double Third Festival is also known as the Love Festival.
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